Quick connect and quick disconnect battery terminal clamp



' y 1,959 J. RINGHOF 2,894,244

QUICK CONNECT AND QUICK DISCONNECT BATTERY TERMINAL CLAMP Filed Jan. 18, 1956 I l I INVENTOR.

JAKOB RINGHOF ATTORNEY W lla/fl United States Patent QUICK CONNECT AND QUICK DISCONNECT BATTERY TERMINAL CLAMP Jakob Ringh'of, Viernheim, Hessen, Germany, assignor of one-half to Paul 0. Tobeler, doing business as Trans- Oceanic, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application January 18, 1956, Serial No. 560,015 2 Claims. 01. 339-236) The conventional battery clamp in use requires many turns of the tightening nut to fasten the clamp on the battery post and of course, requires the same number of turns to loosen it. Because of the lack of accessibility for the wrench, fastening and loosening of the clamp are cumbersome and slow operations, as the nut can be rotated through only a small angle before the wrench must be removed and again applied.

Speed in the fastening and loosening of the clamp, provided in the present invention, is made possible by the creation and use of a threadless nut, having a milled-in, inclined notch on its inner face which is mated with a similarly inclined but protruding surface provided on an external side of one of the clamp legs.

If the clamp is to be used on standard sized battery posts, it is made with a nonadjustable pin secured in one of the legs and extending through the other leg, the

notched nut being rotatably mounted on the pin externally of said other leg. A retaining means on the pin is required to hold the nut adjacent to the clamp leg and on the pin. When used on the so-called standard size terminal, the slant-notched nut has to be turned only a small amount to cause the legs to be drawn together and to make the clamp fast on the terminal.

However, since all battery posts are not of the same size, instead of a pin secured in one leg, an adjustment screw is provided which extends through both legs. One end of the screw is threaded and the corresponding leg is tapped to receive the threads of the screw. A tapped locking nut is provided to hold the screw in position when it has been adjusted according to the size of the battery post. The threaded screw is adjusted by use of a screw driver in a notch in its head, said head retaining the unthreaded nut on the other end of the screw. A compression spring is fitted around the screw and between the legs so as to restore the gap or throat between the legs to its original width when the tightening nut is loosened.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide an improved clamp.

A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved battery terminal clamp having a tightening nut which requires only a fraction of a turn to tighten or to loosen the clamp on the battery terminal.

A further object of this invention is to provide a high current conducting clamp in which a compression spring is used to spread the two legs of the clamp to their proper distance apart when the clamp is loosened.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a battery terminal clamp which can be used on nonstandard size battery terminals.

Another object of this invention is to provide a quick 2,894,244 Patented July 7, 1959 ice acting battery terminal clamp which can be tightened or loosened by a fraction of a turn of a threadless nut, said nut having an inclined notch on its inner face in juxtaposition with a similarly inclined protrusion on one leg of the clamp.

Other objects of invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevational View of the clamp showing the extruded wedge portion on the clamp leg fitted into the notched portion of the threadless nut;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the clamp taken along 2--2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is cutaway view showing the threadless nut after it has been turned to tighten the clamp.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, clamp 1 is shown having a generally circular opening 11 in clamp body 1a which is made to be fitted on a generally round stud or battery terminal. Opening 11, however, could be of various shapes depending upon the shape of the stud on which the clamp is to be fastened. Clamp 1 has terminal connections 8 to which the cable is connected. The clamp is made secure on a stud or a battery post by forcing legs 9 and 10 toward each other and thereby diminishing the width of gap or throat 3 between them.

The nonthreaded end portion of screw 6 is rotatable in untapped hole 12 in leg 9 and threaded end 4 of screw 6 is threadedly engaged in tapped hole 13 in leg 10. Threadless notch-nut 5 is rotatably mounted on screw 6 externally of leg 9 and is retained on screw 6 by flanged head 6a, which is fitted into cylindrical cutout portion 5b of nut .5. Screwdriver slot 6b is provided in flanged head 6a and from the external side of leg 9 extends wedgeshaped protrusion 2. Slanting surface 50 of wedgeshaped indentation or notch 5a in nut 5 is a continuous plane stuface and has an inclination similar or equal to that of the continuous plane surface of slant portion Zn on protrusion 2, so that the protrusion and notch fit snugly with each other. Locking nut 7 is threadedly engaged on threaded end 4 of screw 6. Compression spring 16 surrounds screw 6 in throat 3 between legs 9 and 10 and it can be abuted against the two nuts or, as shown in Fig. 2, can be fitted against the legs in holes 14 and 15.

In operation, when the clamp is to be fastened on a stud of nonstandard size, locking nut 7 is loosened on screw 6. Clamp 1 is placed over the stud and screw 6 is tightened or loosened by use of a screw driver in slot 6b. The screw is turned so that the clamp is fairly snug on the terminal but so that the clamp can be removed by hand. Locking nut 7 is then tightened to maintain the adjustment. This adjustment, made with screw 6 is not an exact one, but is made so as to require just a slight turn of nut 5 to tighten the clamp on the terminal. Thus, after the adjustment, nut 5 is turned so as to move the deepest point of notch 5a away from the highest point of protrusion of wedge 2. In other words, nut 5 is turned, continuously sliding slanted surface 50 on slant surface 2a, as illustrated in Fig. 3, so that nut 5 will tend to be moved axially away from leg 9. But this is not possible because nut 5 is held in position by head 6a and therefore, legs 9 and 10 will be moved toward each other, thereby lessening the distance between them and tightening the clamp on the terminal or stud.

It can be readily seen that when indentation 5a fits snugly on wedge 2, only a small angle turn of nut 5 is necessary to tighten the clamp about a given terminal after the aforesaid adjustment has been secured with screw 6 and locking nut 7. In a similar manner when it is desired to loosen the clamp about a terminal, nut 5 is turned in the opposite direction; that is, moving the point of deepest indentation in notch 5a toward the highest point of protrusion of wedge 2. It can be seen that this the lines allows leg 9 to move away from leg 10 toward nut 5, and moreof notch 5a is moved onto wedge 2. In other words, gap 3, between legs 9 and 10, is increased and at this time .9 urthe inc ea e e p, mpr sio p ing 1, act to forc the legs apart; In he event the clamp is made for. use with only a standard size terminal, adjustment screw 6 is not 'necessa ry an'd'a pin is used, it being secured in leg 10. Since'the clamp would be made in proper adjustment for the standsize terminal, it would be easily slipped onto the terminal and only a slight turn of nut 5 would be necessary to ti hten it. It, of course, is loosened in the same manner as described above.

Theadvantage of being able to tighten or loosen the battery clamp, as provided in the present invention, by only a fraction of a full turn of the nut is considerable and avoids a great deal of effort and time in applying and removing a clamp from a terminal.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that'the 'sarn'e'is byway of illustration and example'only and is not toib e taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of -this invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

" I" claim:

1. A battery terminal clamp comprising a body portion, two substantially parallel legs extending from said body, a throat between said legs, an adjustment screw extending across said throat, a threaded portion on one end of said screw, said threaded portion threadedly engaged in one of said legs, the other end of said screw extending through the other of said legs, a tightening nut loosely and rotatably mounted on said screw, said tightening nut being adjacent said other end of said screw externally of said other'le'g, a flanged head on said other end of said screw, said head retaining said tightening nut on said screw, said screw rotatable in said legs, a plane surface wedge-shaped indentationiii' said'tighteningnut,and'a plane surface wedge-shaped protrusion extending from said other leg, said wedge indentation in said nut being slidably engaged on wedge protrusion on said other leg.

2. In a terminal clamp for a battery cable; said clamp having a body portion adapted to clamp about a battery post; opposed spacedilegs 'extendingfrom's'aid body portion, the improvement comprising? a pin having one end threadedly engaged in one of said legs; said pin having a threaded porn nons aid one end extending externally of said one leg'and'hav'ing a'locking nut on said threaded portion; said pin extending into said other leg and having its other end extending through and externally of said other leg; a tightening nut rotatably mounted on said pin adjacent said'o't'her end and externally of said other leg; means on said other end of said pin retaining said nut thereon; a wedge-shaped notch on the face of said nujt directed toward said' 'other leg, and a continuous plane surface wedge-shaped protrusion extending fro'rnsaidother leg; said wedge notch complementary'and being slidably engaged on said wedge protrusion whereby whe n'the deepest point of sa dnotch said nut is rotated 'away f r om the point of greatest protrusion on said other leg, "said clamp is tightened, and when said points are moved to Contact each other, said clamp is loosened.

Referenoes Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 53 725 sh flne p 5 .1925 2,156,411 Thorria's May 2, 1939 2,493,389 ase Jan. 3, 1950 2,7 9,954 Lartz Nov. 6, 1956 2,807,000 Wils o1f1;- .4 Sept. 17, 1957 

